Chasing Time: Relationships
The relationships we have, or lack thereof, are impacted by our time management. We can chase time and ignore those relationships or we can build relationships and manage our time to help us do so. Ecclesiastes main message is that we can chase after a lot of things and even accomplish them all, great and small but in the end, it is our relationship with God and others that matters. When we spend all our time chasing after things, we can end up all alone, miserable, and without God. We need to manage our time to ensure that we build our relationships.
And now, the sermon notes:
Ecc 4:7-12 main passage for sermon.
We often compare ourselves with others. This leads us to wanting more and we end up in an endless race, an unattainable dream We chase those dreams and never find contentment. This is especially true in relationships.
First, are you content with yourself or do you see yourself negatively. A crumpled up, stomped on ten dollar bill still has the same value as a crisp clean ten dollar bill. In the same way our lives have the same value that God put on it in the beginning. We need to acknowledge that value, not devalue ourselves.
Matt 22:37-40. We can not love others if we can not love ourselves (in a healthy way). And we must be consistent in our daily lives. We need to be happy with ourselves and stop trying to be someone else. Ask God to reveal ourselves as He sees us and write them down. Ask God to help us live as He sees us.
Then we need to start building on our relationships. Slow down and enjoy our relationships. Live like a human and not like a lab rat in a maze chasing the cheese. Love your neighbor. Learn how to invest in others. Be real. Take time to be with others. Doing life together.
Ok, I am a bit mad at myself because I forgot to take a picture of the platform Sunday. It had a coffin on it! No, we didn’t have a real funeral. We had a fake one where the poor dead guy, “Pat,” had no real friends and only one family member who talked about chocolate bars. He was remembered first and foremost for being the first to work and the last to leave. He was a busy guy. But no friends. Pastor Jeff was dressed up in what many of us would think of as a mortician’s suit, long black jacket with like 5 buttons, black pants, and a black shirt. He kind of cleans up well 🙂
The point was obvious, at the end of our lives, how will we be remembered and by whom. The impact we have on work has no lasting effect. The impact we have on the lives of others does. So chasing after things is like chasing soap bubbles, the second we attain them, they pop and nothing is left. When we build up relationships, they can affect others well beyond our short time here on earth. It can impact other’s lives for eternity.